Red and Green and Blue and White

Starred review from September 13, 2021
Isaac and his best friend and neighbor Teresa, both of whom appear white, have a lot in common: “They both loved playing in the snow,/ counting down to the holidays,// and thought you couldn’t have too many sprinkles on a cookie.” But Isaac is a member of the town’s Jewish minority—“On a block dressed up in Red and Green,/ one house shone Blue and White”—and his family’s menorah window display becomes the target of a hate crime. Wind’s lightly fictionalized version of the 1993 incident wherein a community stood up to bigotry, taping pictures of menorahs to their own windows in solidarity, is conveyed with lyrical simplicity. The visual treatment here is particularly striking—Caldecott Medalist Zelinsky’s vibrant digital art has the bold, rough-hewn textures of scratch block, and dramatic compositions that recall sweeping cinematography emphasize fraught emotions in this moving historical tale that encourages taking a stand. Back matter features an author’s note that provides additional historical context. Ages 4–7.